The Delhi High Court has preponed the date of hearing and has asked the Delhi Waqf Board to respond to the petition filed by its employees for payment of salaries and emoluments.

The Bench of Justice Jyoti Singh allowed the interim application filed for the preponment of date of hearing on the ground that the Petitioners had not been paid salaries and emoluments for over 5 months.

Advocate M. Sufian Siddiqui appeared for the petitioners and Advocate Tushar Sannu and Standing Counsel Wajeeh Shafia appeared for the respondents.

The Court was apprised of the facts that-

  • The employees under certain categories had not received their salaries from October last year and were facing "unfathomable financial hardships".
  • The functioning of the Delhi Waqf Board had come to a standstill as its business was to be transacted at its meetings and no meeting of the members of the Board had taken place since January 2022.
  • The budget of the Delhi Waqf Board was also not prepared and forwarded to the state government in a timely manner as required by the Waqf Act, 1995 and the Delhi Wakf Rules, 1997, which had caused inordinate delay in sending requisition for the Grant in Aid to the Delhi Government for first quarter of Financial Year 2022-2023.
  • There were delays on the part of the Government of NCT of Delhi also in releasing the Grant in Aid.
  • That the aggrieved employees had been robbed of their right to a dignified life in a brazen infraction of their fundamental and constitutional rights.

The Court took note of the facts, asked the respondents to file the counter-affidavits positively, before the next date of hearing and had sought the stand of the divisional commissioner-cum-revenue secretary of the Delhi government on the plea.

Accordingly, the matter was listed preponed for hearing on February 16, 2023.

Cause Title- Delhi Waqf Board Employees Association & Anr. v. Chief Executive Officer Delhi Waqf Board & Ors.

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Delhi High CourtJustice Jyoti SIngh

Sanjoli N Srivastava